I'm officially an idiot

Report this gig, not only is he harvesting you as a lead, but "email extraction" is "scraping" and there are millions of spam trap emails setup all over the internet to bust people mailing these addresses.

It's against the CAN-SPAM act and can cost you up to $100 per infraction.

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

I saw this gig on Fiverr where the seller is offering email extraction. Says it works with Google, Yahoo, etc. Sounded good to me, so I paid the five bucks.

Turns out he sends you a URL, which is an anonymous page that asks for your ID, password and host. I have a little problem with trust, so I look around further and lo and behold, this guy is in the LEAD GENERATION business.

I'm an idiot -- I've never heard of this before. What a great scheme, someone gives you money and you rape their email. Makes me feel a little sick.

fLufF
--

[ 1 ] Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4513512].message }}

R Hagel

13 years ago

I'm officially an idiot

Did you get the beautiful gold-embossed certificate that's suitable for framing? And the members-only ID card that entitles you to a 10%-off discount at your local bar? Hey, membership has it's privileges.

Actually, though, I believe it's the seller who's the idiot -- not you.

~Becky

[ 1 ] Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4513531].message }}

Mike Hill

13 years ago

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

I saw this gig on Fiverr where the seller is offering email extraction. Says it works with Google, Yahoo, etc. Sounded good to me, so I paid the five bucks.

Turns out he sends you a URL, which is an anonymous page that asks for your ID, password and host. I have a little problem with trust, so I look around further and lo and behold, this guy is in the LEAD GENERATION business.

I'm an idiot -- I've never heard of this before. What a great scheme, someone gives you money and you rape their email. Makes me feel a little sick.

fLufF
--

So the better question is why would you pay for email extraction? What did you think "email extraction" was?

I'm an idiot -- I've never heard of this before. What a great scheme, someone gives you money and you rape their email. Makes me feel a little sick.

So I guess it's okay if you're doing the raping of emails?

[ 1 ] Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4513546].message }}

Austin357

13 years ago

I have heard that there are a few guys on Fiverr doing this type of scam. Be very cautious and don't give out those passwords.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4513561].message }}

fluffythewondercat 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Austin357

I have heard that there are a few guys on Fiverr doing this type of scam. Be very cautious and don't give out those passwords.

Now that I look for them, I can see how right you are.

Many are of the "extract email addresses of your Facebook friends" variety but there are a few that offer to do what this guy does.

fLufF
--
- Thanks
Signature

Fiverr is looking for freelance writers for its blog. Details here.
Love microjobs? Work when you want and get paid in cash the same day!
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4514641].message }}

Bill Farnham

13 years ago

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

I saw this gig on Fiverr where the seller is offering email extraction. Says it works with Google, Yahoo, etc. Sounded good to me, so I paid the five bucks.

Fluffy,

You're a wonder cat. You know that if you lay down with dogs you wake up with fleas.

So you wanted to start extracting email addresses. Not a good sign...

~Bill

[ 2 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4513569].message }}

fluffythewondercat

13 years ago

You've misunderstood my intent.

I have had a Yahoo account for my business for three years. During that time, many people have emailed me looking for a specific piece of jewelry. I need to have this information built into a database so when i find that specific piece, i can email the customer. The database key (if you're familiar with relational databases) is the email address.

Most of these people are already on my mailing list anyway, so it's a data issue, not a I-want-to-spam issue, and they contacted me first. (I'm pretty much the only online source for a popular jewelry brand.). What I really need is a customer management system but the one built into Yahoo Stores doesn't do what I want.

I'm an idiot because I didn't realize people scrape random emails -- wouldn't they want targeted leads? Anyway, i didn't give him any of my login info, so it's safe.

fLufF
--

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Fiverr is looking for freelance writers for its blog. Details here.
Love microjobs? Work when you want and get paid in cash the same day!

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4514257].message }}

Psst

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

You've misunderstood my intent.

I have had a Yahoo account for my business for three years. During that time, many people have emailed me looking for a specific piece of jewelry. I need to have this information built into a database so when i find that specific piece, i can email the customer. The database key (if you're familiar with relational databases) is the email address.

Most of these people are already on my mailing list anyway, so it's a data issue, not a I-want-to-spam issue, and they contacted me first. (I'm pretty much the only online source for a popular jewelry brand.). What I really need is a customer management system but the one built into Yahoo Stores doesn't do what I want.

I'm an idiot because I didn't realize people scrape random emails -- wouldn't they want targeted leads? Anyway, i didn't give him any of my login info, so it's safe.

fLufF
--

So this is called data-entry and not email extraction which is an evil thing.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4514292].message }}

blillard

13 years ago

If your unsure are about the gig completely, ask the seller what exactly are you paying for. I know it seems obvious to just do that, but I found that a lot of the sellers on fiverr don't mind explaining what it is they do because they don't want you thinking you're getting a ton of work done for $5 bucks and then turn around and give bad feedback for over expecting on a gig. It saves a lot time and frustration to ask first.

Thanks

Signature

[WSO] This Has To Be The EASIEST List Building Out Right Now?

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4514315].message }}

SocialMediaOwls

13 years ago

Yes, when you say "email extraction" the first thing that comes to my mind is harvesting....you may want to change your wording

Thanks
2 replies

Signature

Health and Fitness niche Affiliate Program | High CTR/EPC | Personal Account Manager 24/7 support https://influencer.bulksupplements.com

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4514316].message }}

dshipman 13 years ago

Did this Fiverr person have any reviews?
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4514371].message }}
fluffythewondercat 13 years ago

It would be nice if learning something wasn't painful.

What's worse is that we may soon be longing for the "good old days" of fiverr when most people were basically honest. I hope not. I've always believed Fiverr has the potential to improve a lot of peoples' lives, like eBay did in the beginning.

fLufF
--
- Thanks
Signature

Fiverr is looking for freelance writers for its blog. Details here.
Love microjobs? Work when you want and get paid in cash the same day!
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4514374].message }}

timpears

13 years ago

Seems to me, although I am no expert, that this would violate Fiverr.com's TOS. I would report them to Fiverr.com. But that is just me, I am a bit of an a** hole at times. Especially when someone screws me and I didn't get kissed.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Tim Pears

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4514481].message }}

fluffythewondercat 13 years ago

I reported him to Customer Service. We'll see.

No, he didn't have any reviews. I scan the recent arrivals every day to try to catch funny or bizarre new gigs.

fLufF
--
- Thanks
Signature

Fiverr is looking for freelance writers for its blog. Details here.
Love microjobs? Work when you want and get paid in cash the same day!
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4514600].message }}

BloggingPro

13 years ago

I've had many a moment like that--and I'll happily admit it lol.

Welcome to the club. We meet on Thursday's in room 401. Bring cookies.

Thanks

Signature

You're going to fail. If you're afraid of failure then you do not belong in the Internet Marketing Business. Period.

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4514657].message }}

manny2513

13 years ago

I think that we all in one way or another have get ripped off on the net at least once. I bet you now will pay more attention before buying again on-line. So at leat you learned something

Thanks

Signature

** Click Cash Magnet Solos Ads 100 - 1000 Clicks**
Click Here and Book Your Spot

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4514667].message }}

I'm officially an idiot

Trending Topics

Google Ads, landing pages, and Clickbank links

Carry out better target audience research

YouTube gets shopping display tools and affiliate partnership updates

A Very Strange Internet Problem

Membership area with multiple income streams